A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, Abbas Mousavi, warned against the detention of the recently released Adrian Darya 1 tanker.Â
The tanker was seized on 4 July 2019 by the UK in Gibraltar, where it has been docked until the nation decided to release the ship last week. The US Justice Department requested that the vessel be held and handed over to US authorities, citing violations against US sanctions, but Gibraltar refused the request.
Mousavi called the detention of the tanker illegal, and credited the release of the tanker to Iran’s “fruitful” diplomatic and legal measures.
The UK seized the ship as it was suspected of transporting crude oil from Iran to the Syrian regime, a breach of the European Union’s sanctions against Iran. Once it was determined that the crude was not being transported to Syria, the ship was allowed to leave.Â
